These adverbs are so interesting

Hey guys! 

It's almost Friday! Today we warmed up by comparing some music. Just in case you liked any of the songs and wanted to listen again here are the youtube links...

Song one: Bob Dylan - Just like a woman
Song two: Nirvana - Come as you are
Song three: The Streets - Don't mug yourself
Song four - The Pointer Sisters - Slow Hand
Song five - Bee Gees - More than a woman


After we had warmed up we began studying comparing with adverbs. Here is a picture of the board...

Remember, an adverb describes a verb. For a reminder of adverb form and use take a look at this blog from earlier in the month.


We also did a reading exercise about a music competition. Here is a picture of some of the new vocabulary we covered...

Next we talked about using so and such. The important thing to remember when you are using so or such is what type of word follows them. 

So + adjective or adverb

such + (adjective) noun

Here is a picture of the board...

Remember: If the noun after such is singular countable (class, football match, hat) then you need to use an indefinite article (a/an). If you use an adjective the article comes after such and before the adjective.

 It is such a beautiful day

She is such an intelligent woman

If you are using an uncountable or plural noun then you don't need an article.

It is such refreshing water (uncountable)

They are such interesting books (plural)

Well Pre-Inters it is almost the weekend but before that we have to have the Friday test... here is a revision list of things that will be covered in your exam...

Past perfect Vs Past Simple

Family Vocabulary

So and Such

Let / Don't let / Make / Don't make
The schwa sound /ə/ (teacher , appointment)
Comparing using adverbs

***

Have a good evening, study hard and see you tomorrow!

Hannah makes you read her blog!

Bons alunos tarde linda! Los buenos estudiantes hermosa tarde!  

Pomeriggio gli studenti buoni lovely!  안녕하십니까 아름다운 학생!

 Today we studied make, don't make, let and don't let. We discussed the difference between them and made some sentences. 

 Subject + let/don't let/make/don't make + object + verb 1...

My boyfriend doesn't let me buy expensive shoes

I let my dog sleep in my bed

My wife makes me wear clean underwear every day

My parents don't make me come home before 11pm

Here is a picture of the definitions of use from the board... 

 

Next we learned about the schwa sound   /ə/ 

This is the most common sound in the English language. We can hear this sound in the last syllable of teacher, America and camera. 

I have found this excellent video all about the schwa, it's really worth watching.

Your homework tonight is to make eight sentences using make, don't make, let and don't let. Four about society in the present tense and four about your parents in the past tense.

examples:

 Society doesn't let me be naked in public

My parents didn't let me have a boyfriend until I was 16 

Have a great night everyone and see you tomorrow!

Delfin Magazine Article

A while ago I asked you to write about your top ten best and worst jobs and give me reasons why. I combined the best work 

(from Luis, Mayerling and Igor - well done guys)

 and the finished product has been published in The Delfin Magazine! The magazine is available to read at Dominick Street but if you can't wait to read our contribution, here it is!

Top 5 Best Jobs in the world

5.    Actor / Actress – Because this is a fun job where you don’t do the same thing every day and many people know you. You can travel wherever you want. Because you have a lot of money you will be surrounded by celebrities.

4.    Doctor – Because you can help people and save lives. It is very difficult to be a doctor but they make a lot of money and people respect them. I think a doctor is a blessed job.

3.    A bad politician – This job is very important for the people. If you were dishonest you will be able to move up the career ladder. You get a government car and you can get a good pension scheme. They have the best colleagues in the world.

2.    Travel Reporter – Because these people earn a lot of money while travelling and know the world and it’s different cultures.

1.    Artist – I think artists, painters, sculptor, etc have to be the best career because you can express what you want, feelings, world situations or people in the past, present and future. You have flexi-time and if you are good you’ll earn a good salary. You will be able to enjoy being your own boss.

Top 5 Worst Jobs in the world.

5.    Solider – Because they have to kill many people. In many cases soldiers are psychologically sick after work. They also have to obey many orders and be obedient people.

4.    Prostitute – Because they have to be with many men at the same time. In many cases these men are very ugly and old.

3.  Executioner – Because it must be horrible having to kill other people and more if you are institutionalised because you work for the government and you have to kill people who are in prison sentenced to death.

2.  A good politician – They work very hard for a very long time. They must attend too many meetings. They need to travel a lot and your colleagues can be your rivals. People think they are thieves. Their ambition must be to get a good country but people won’t be grateful.

1. Forensic pathologist – Because I think it’s unpleasant to have to prepare dead people. It’s disgusting and creepy. I would never accept a job offer like this!

By Luis, Mayerling and Igor. PET Pre Intermediate Class

Past Perfectly Emotional...

Good afternoon Pre-Inters,

What a great lesson we had today! We started off by looking at yesterday's homework - past perfect sentences about your favourite films. You guys did a really fantastic job, here are some of my favourites.

 

One of the things we talked about was the use of already. We use already to show that something happened sooner than we expected or to emphasise order of the events. 

When I arrived to class Liliana had already been there for ten minutes! 

The film had already started by the time Nicola arrived at the cinema.

 We watched this emotional clip from the movie 'Up'

 

 You made these amazing past perfect sentences about the clip.

After the break we talked about family relationships. Take a look at this webpage to revise the vocabulary.

We spoke about the characteristics which are common to your position in the family. Here is a brief synopsis of what we discovered...

Only child - Quite serious and hard working

Youngest child - Artistic risk takers

Middle child - Adaptable problem solvers

Oldest child - Tidy and caring.

Do you agree?

Here is some of the new vocabulary we studied in the reading exercise.

Finally here is your homework for tonight. I know these grammar worksheets can be boring and soulless but they are really useful for practising form and use.

 

Have a great evening guys, have fun at Dicey's if you are going... but don't get too drunk... studying with a hangover is no fun!!!

Hannah was happy because the class had studied the past perfect!

Hello class, happy Monday!

Today we jumped straight into some grammar with the past perfect. Remember, we use the past perfect when we want to talk about an action which was completed before another action in the past. Sound complicated?! Well it's not... take a look...

                                     Ate dinner     My friend       Now
                                                          arrived

Both actions happened in the past but action 1 (ate dinner) came first and action 2 (my friend arrived) came second. To show this order of events we use the past perfect.

(When my friend arrived), (I had eaten dinner)

       Past simple                      past perfect

We use the past simple to talk about the most recent event and the past perfect to talk about the event before that.

This is a picture of the board in class.

We will study this more tomorrow so DON'T PANIC if you don't fully understand yet. If you want some more practice try this online test.

Your homework tonight is to make 5 past perfect sentences about your favourite movie. I have written some about the movie 'Titanic' to help you.

Jack and Rose had fallen in love by the time the boat sunk.

Rose let go of Jack's hand in the ocean when he had frozen to death.

Jack had painted Rose naked when they had sex in the car.

Have a great evening, see you tomorrow!

Not in a month of Sundays!

Happy Friday Pre-Inters!! TGIF!!!!

Today we took our Friday test and most of you agreed that it wasn't too difficult but you needed more time. I'll make next week's test a little bit shorter, OK?

After we the test we revised telling the time. Most of you seem to be able to do with without difficulty, try this online game (and this one) just to revise.

After this we studied some time idioms (gotta love idiom Friday!). Here is a picture of the worksheet we studied.

I want to say a huge goodbye to Juliana and Everson. They have both passed the level change test and will be moving to Intermediate next week. We will miss you both very much, come and visit us at break times! 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

See you all on Monday! 

I had my palm read (by my students!)

Hi Students!

As you know it is the test tomorrow. I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE REVISING!! 
All the topics that will be on the test are here on the blog from the week so take a look back at the posts from this week to remind you.

So today we studied to 'have something done'.This means when you pay or employ someone else to do something for you. We talked about what we have done.

Subject + have + object + verb 3

Hannah  has her toenails painted

 Some people have their houses cleaned, some people have their hair cut and some people even have their clothes made! Lucky you!

What do you think these people need to have done?

 

We also talked about fate and destiny. We listened to this song, filled in the missing words and sung along beautifully!  We discussed whether we believe in fate or whether we create out own future by the decisions we make. We all had very different ideas which was interesting. 

We also had some fun with palmistry and told each others fortunes. You say that I will have a long life and lots of lovers...shhhh don't tell my boyfriend!! Here is some more palmistry information.. why not try and read your friends' palms?

Have a great evening guys and I'll see you tomorrow!

'Going to' predictions homework

Hey Pre-Inters!

I told you that I would put some of the best photography homework on the blog so here it is... you guys are AMAZING!

I am going to do hard training in the gym!

I am going to cook some food

I am going to drive

I am going to watch TV

I am going to do yoga in the park

I am going to drink a bottle of wine

The basketballer is going to shoot the ball into the basket

I am going out with my friends

Whatever will be will be...

Wow! I can't believe how many students came to class today! On a Wednesday!!! I was so happy!!

Today we studied using 'will' for predictions based on what we think, guess or know. 

We started off the lesson describing and drawing crazy inventions like these...

We decided that these inventions are definitely CRAZY and we won't use them in the future! 

We went on to do a reading exercise about predictions. Here is the new vocabulary we learnt.

We talked about using 'will' to predict something we think, guess or know will happen in the future. Here is the grammar...

We made some interesting predictions about art, the media, poverty and wealth, technology and Dublin. Some of my favourites were...

We will invent a time machine

Dublin will have a lot of Brazilian children

Movies will be in 4D (hahahaaa Jeong...)

I have given you a grammar worksheet on 'will' for prediction as homework. The homework is due tomorrow, we will correct it in class together.

Have a great evening!

Predictions and Politics...

Good afternoon Class,

Today we reviewed 'going to' for future plans and predictions based on evidence which we can see and hear.

We began by making questions about future plans... 

Q. What are you going to do this Summer?

A. I'm going on holiday.

Q. Where are you going?

A. I'm going to Thailand

Q. When are you going?

A. I'm going in 2 months

Q. Why are you going?

A. I'm going to relax and sunbathe

Q. Who are you going with?

A. I'm going with my best friend

Q. How are you going?

A. I'm going to fly

Here are some more answers... can you guess the questions?

To speak Portuguese

Go clubbing

Later tonight

Taxi 

All my students

Dicey's

Next we made some 'going to' predictions based on evidence that we heard and saw. Some predictions you made were...

She said that man is handsome: She is going to chat with him

He said he has a headache: He is going to take some painkillers

There is a bottle of wine and a bottle of whiskey on the table: They are going to get drunk.

That girl is staring at my boyfriend: There is going to be an argument!

After the break we used 'going to' to make political manifestos which you then presented to the class. Well done to the Young Dublin Party, The Republic of the Left and The Power Party. You guys had some great ideas (and some really funny ones too...you know what I mean Power Party!!)

Here is a copy of the worksheet I gave you in case you missed class.

Don't forget your photography homework! Make some funny predictions in Dicey's tonight!

See you tomorrow.

I am going to read Hannah's blog

Monday has come around again...why do the weekends go so quickly Pre-Inters? Time flies when you're having fun I guess!

Today I was DELIGHTED at the homework I received from you. Really great lengthy essays with loads of great idioms, well done guys.

We started today's lesson talking about free time activities and different ways to say that you like doing something. Here is a picture of the board.

 

Remember: after a preposition we always use verb+ing. For example,

"In my free time I am a big fan of swimming and I am obsessed with baking cookies. Last year I got into watching old black and white movies with my boyfriend and when we watch them we are keen on eating Doritos and dip.We are also interested in learning new languages and traveling to different countries"

We also talked about spare time related collocations using do, play and collect. Here is an exercise we did in class to help you revise.

 Later in the lesson we talked about 'going to' for future plans. Here is the grammar...

We then talked about asking more 'going to' questions with the question words WHEN, WHERE, WHY, WHAT and WHO. 

We asked each other some questions about the future, for example,

Q. What are you going to eat for dinner tonight?
A. Spaghetti Bolognese. 
Q. Where are you going to visit in Ireland?
A. Cork and Belfast.
Q. Why are you going to Dicey's tomorrow night?
A. To meet new people and drink Guinness!
Q. When are you going to return to your own country?
A. When I have learned English.
Q. Who are you going to chat with after class?
A. My friends and my house mates.

 Remember: When you want to use the verb 'go' in a 'going to' sentence, you don't need to repeat it. For example,

I am going to go to the cinema

I am going to go on holiday to Indonesia

We also learned to use 'going to' for predictions about the future based on evidence we can SEE and HEAR.

Seeing and hearing is believing!

So for example:
That man is walking towards a banana skin, I think he's going to slip.

 The sky is very cloudy, I think it is going to rain.

The music is getting quieter, I think the party is going to finish soon.

We looked at this picture and talked about what is going to happen based on what you can see...

Also try this online test to see if you can guess what's going to happen based on what you can hear.

The homework tonight is to take three photographs of things that are  

going to happen and write a 'going to' prediction for each photo. Here is an example for you...

I am going to eat some delicious dessert!

Email your homework to me at hannahsenglishclassroom@live.com and I will put the best ones up on the blog!

Have a nice evening, see you tomorrow :)

Head over heels about English!

Woooo it's Friday!

OK, so the test today was pretty hard. Well done to Luis for getting the highest score and earning his second Delfin dollar! Also well done to Paul for naming the most jobs for every letter of the alphabet.. my personal favourite... ZOMBIE! Well, it might not be a job but it's certainly very creative hahaha! Paul won a delicious packet of sweets for his efforts.

Paul's yummy prize!

After break we talked about relationship idioms. Paul told me that in Brazil if the woman is totally in control in a relationship they say the man is a 'tied up horse'. In English we say he is 'under the thumb'.

The other idioms we talked about were...

Tie the knot = get married

Take the plunge = make a big decision (for example get married)

On the rocks = trouble and arguments in a relationship

Head over heels in love with = love someone passionately

Fall in love = the beginning of love (the best part!)

Fall out of love = when you stop loving someone

Have a crush on someone = you think a person is attractive, you like them a lot (but not love yet)

Your homework for the weekend: Write an essay about a current or previous relationship. You must use at least 3 of the idioms which we learnt in class and it must be over 100 words.

Have a great weekend Pre-Inters! See you on Monday :-)

 

I can't stand loving you!

Happy Valentines Day Class!!

Today was a lovely lesson :-) We warmed up by talking about the most romantic thing that has ever happened to us. We discovered that most of the men in the class are NOT romantic! 

We moved on to some grammar, gerunds and infinitives. This is always a bit tricky (difficult) because it means remembering which verbs are followed by verb + ing and which verbs are followed by to + verb. Here are some examples to help you...

After break we made some love poems ... here is a link to some more sweet (and funny) roses are red poems for you to use this Valentines Day! Here is a new one just for you guys...

Perfume smells of flowers

Toilets smell of fart

I think my Pre Int class

Are funny and smart!

See you tomorrow!

P.s. Thanks for my chocolates Mayerling...you made my day!xx

Have you studied animals yet?

Hello class,

First of all WELL DONE to the students who came to class today! To the students who didn't... I hope your hangovers were AWFUL!

Today we studied yet, already and just with the present perfect. Here is a worksheet we completed.

 

We also studied the difference between the V3s been and gone.

Been - 'She has been to Paris' - She has visited Paris and she has now returned.

Gone - 'She has gone to Paris' - She is in Paris now.

Some other good examples from class were:

Been

Carmen has been to Diceys, she has a hangover this morning

Dave has been shopping, the fridge is full of food

Gone

Carmen has gone to Dicey's, her room is empty and her bag isn't there.

Dave has gone shopping, he will be home in an hour.

Try this online test!

After break we learnt some animal vocabulary! This was very fun and we somehow ended up talking about a bull's penis!?! I blame Igor for that!! Well done to the Hero Dolphin Team who won the class vocab competition! (They were very lucky!)

I have set you guys some homework...

 

Exercise one is a pronunciation exercise. Here are links to the pronunciation of each word... (just press the button next to the word which says 'pronunciation')

Lion, Tiger, Leopard, Mosquito, Bear, Eagle, Gorilla, Giraffe, Spider, Wild, Monkey, Camel, Snake, Shark, Butterfly, Mouse, Cow

See you tomorrow everyone :-)